Nutty Passover Recipes

You’re family and guests will go nuts over these dishes!

I’m a little behind on my Passover preparations – like most people! To plan my menus I sat down and went through all my Passover cookbooks, searched online for recipes, and started to develop a plan. I also wanted to come up with some new and interesting, and of course delicious recipes that everyone in my family hasn’t had every single Passover (“Pepper Chicken…again??”) Then I thought – NUTS! There are many Kosher for Passover nuts available of all kinds, and they add great flavor to recipes. These dishes are a blast to make, using crunched potato chips, marshmallows and chocolate(yes I did lick the chocolate off of my fingers after making the Rocky Road Chocolate Treats). You’ll go nuts over these recipes…really…you will!! Chag Kasher V’Sameach!

Pecan and Potato Chip
Crusted Chicken Breasts

These schnitzel pieces taste like they took you hours to make but take no time at all to prepare…and they are baked not fried. If you shnooker a few chips from the bag while making this recipe I promise not to tell anyone – just be sure to leave enough for the chicken! Or better yet, buy an extra bag to nosh on!

This recipe is great year round for the GFE (Gluten Free Eater)!

14 ounce package potato chips

6 ounces ground pecans

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon paprika

2 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (around 6 cutlets)

3 large eggs, well beaten and placed in a medium bowl

Non-stick vegetable spray

Additional chopped pecans - optional

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a large baking sheet with foil, spray with non-stick vegetable spray, set aside.

Remove the tenders from the backs of the chicken breasts, and reserve for another use. Split the chicken breasts in half lengthwise to make 12 thin cutlets (for more information on how to do this please see my video – Spice Packet Shnitzel – The Movie). Set them aside.

In a food processor, grind the potato chips until finely ground. If you don’t have a Kosher for Passover food processor, place the chips in a large plastic zipper bag. Seal the bag, making sure to get as much air out of the bag as possible. Using a rolling pin or wine bottle, crush the chips to a fine crumb. Add the ground pecans, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika and process until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. If using the bag method, add the pecans and spices and shake to combine.

Transfer the crumbs to a shallow baking dish. Dip a chicken breast into the beaten egg to coat, then press into the crumb mixture. Turn the cutlet over and press into the crumb mixture again until completely coated. Set the coated chicken breast on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken breasts. Give the coated chicken breasts a good spray with the non-stick vegetable spray. Bake for 25 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. Sprinkle with additional chopped pecans & serve warm.

Walnut & Quinoa Burgers

For an additional delicious punch, sauté diced zucchini and/or shredded carrots with the garlic and onion. Proceed with the recipe as described below. This recipe is great year round for the GFE (Gluten Free Eater)!

2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed

4 cups boiling water

1 large onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed (you can use a frozen cube)

12 ounces ground walnuts

½ teaspoon fine sea salt (or to taste)

¼ teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

4 large eggs

Oil for frying

In a large saucepan combine the quinoa and boiling water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Turn off heat and allow the cooked quinoa to sit covered for an additional 5 minutes. Remove cover and allow quinoa to cool. (This step can be done in advance.)

Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add diced onions and sauté until the onions are caramelized. Add the walnuts, salt, pepper and onions to the cooled quinoa. Stir to combine. Add the eggs and blend until the eggs are evenly distributed. Form the quinoa-walnut mixture into patties. Add additional oil to the skillet and fry the patties until golden brown on each side. Makes around 24 patties.

Machaneh Yehuda Cabbage Salad

During my recent trip to Israel I went to visit one of my favorite spots in Israel – the Pereg store in Machaneh Yehuda. Mordechai (the guy behind the counter) spent nearly an hour having me sample all the fabulous spices and seasonings in the store. After tasting most of the loose varieties, I left with a “few” packed bags of Pereg ingredients. One of my favorite mixes was, according to Mordechai, “Good with Cabbage”, and when I made the salad the Shabbat after we got home it was a huge hit! Here is my version of the Machaneh Yehuda Cabbage Salad. Feel free to add more sugar or salt according to your personal preference. Keep in mind that the type of oil you use will also add different flavor to the salad. Bitayavon!!

This recipe is great year round for the GFE (Gluten Free Eater)!

4-5 cups shredded cabbage (or ¼ small cabbage)

1 cup blanched slivered almonds (can use halved or sliced instead)

1 cup dried cranberries (can use dried cherries or currents instead)

1 ½ teaspoons dried dill weed

1 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Chill for 15-30 minutes before serving.

Rocky Road Chocolate Treats

With all the time consuming Pesach preparations, it’s nice to have a super-zippy-quick treat recipe to fall back on. These treats are sweet and crunchy, and best of all chocolaty!!

5 ounces mini marshmallows

2 cups matzoh farfel

2 cups chopped walnuts

12 ounces chocolate chips, melted

1 tablespoon oil

Line a large baking sheet with foil. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together the mini-marshmallows, matzoh farfel, and walnuts. Set aside.

Combine the oil with the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate over the marshmallow-farfel-walnut mix. Stir until all the ingredients are completely coated with chocolate. Drop a spoonful at a time on the prepared cookie sheet. Refrigerate until set.

Alternative method: Spread the entire mixture on the baking sheet in an even layer. Refrigerate until set, then break into bite size pieces.

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Sharon Matten lives in Chicago and is a Freelance Pastry Chef, Kosher Food Writer & Blogger, Cable TV guest Chef, Wilton Cake Instructor, Cookbook Contributing Editor, Electrical Engineer, Wife & Mom (not in order of importance!). She writes the weekly www.koshereveryday.com blog about cooking kosher with a family and busy life – pictures and recipes included! To get more great recipes, and to find out more information about Sharon Matten go to www.koshereveryday.com.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 6

(3)
Sadeena,
March 27, 2013 6:34 AM

Yum!!! Thanks so much Sharon for these great recipes!

I'm on my way to the kitchen to try your shnitzel recipe. Fran said it was amazing. Thanks so much for sharing your creative ideas with us! Your article is great-I can hear you talking it to me!

Anonymous,
March 28, 2013 8:07 PM

Thanks Sadeena!

Thanks Sadeena! Please let me know how it turned out! Sharon

(2)
fran,
March 24, 2013 7:16 PM

thanks for these amazing recipes...so easy to follow, can't wait to serve them to my guests...hoping to see more of sharon matten's ideas on this website soon

Sharon Matten,
March 28, 2013 8:06 PM

Thanks!

Thanks Fran!!

(1)
Sara,
March 21, 2013 4:44 PM

Quinoa Awareness....

Just wanted to point out that the OU announced last year that they would not certify quinoa as kosher for Passover due to the fact that it may fall into the category of kitniyot. I guess this is a question that should be taken to your personal Rabbi, but being as this recipe is in the Passover section, I felt it is important to point this out...Happy cleaning and cooking :-)

Sharon Matten,
March 24, 2013 3:54 AM

Check out the CRC

Dear Sara,
Thanks so much for your comment. Here in Chicago the Chicago Rabbinical Council has stated that you can use certain quinoa that was specially watched with a passover hashgacha. Here is a link to their comments: http://www.crcweb.org/Passover/quinoa%202013.pdf
I completely agree that it s important to discuss this with your personal Rabbi. Have a Chag Kasher V'sameah.
Sharon

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!